Most of my kids have gone through phases where they love to role play and put on skits. I firmly believe that when my children role play, tell stories, and express themselves through play, they internalize the subject matter on a deeper level than when we simply read about and quiz about the topic. I was thrilled to get the opportunity to review the Civil War Role Play Set sold on Amazon by Creative Kids Toys.

The Civil War Role Play set includes blue and gray Civil War hats with matching haversacks, Civil War play money, and a Civil War fact sheet. The bundle sells for $24.89.

My 9, 10, and 12-year-old boys found this kit in my bedroom and begged to be allowed to play with it right away. After giving them my permission, I didn’t hear back from them for hours. They loved being able to act out the roles of Union soldiers and Confederate soldiers and take turns who got to be on the winning side. It was fascinating, as a parent, to overhear their conversations and realize how much they are really learning.

The hats were very high quality and will take a beating from busy and bustling students for years to come. The Haversacks were perfect to hold their currency and other important items. The two envelopes of “Confederate Currency” and “Union Currency” give a short history of the currency at the time and how metals were scarce and so paper money became prominent. The paper bills/notes of credit are printed on antique feeling paper and give the student a true sense of how the currency probably felt like and looked like. The fact sheet gave a brief history of the Civil War and a list of several sites on the web where students can go and explore more on their own.

Overall, I thought this was a fun way for my kids to be able to reenact and dig deeper into their study of the Civil War. They had a blast pretending to be soldiers fighting for freedom of slaves. I believe that it gave them more of an interest in the topic than they would have had otherwise. I would highly recommend this product for anyone wanting more hands-on play to go with your Civil War unit.

Product review by Audrey Tolle, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, November, 2018